Mobile phone and other portable mobile communications devices support the ability to send messages using various message-oriented communication protocols. Among them, the text- or character-based short message service (SMS) is popular with cellular service providers because SMS messages use little network capacity and generate disproportionately large revenue. Other services support instant messaging, a type of online chat service that allows participants to communicate in real time over the Internet using various proprietary and open-source protocols.
SMS and instant-messaging are popular because their messages are convenient: they are easy to generate, convey, and read. Relatively simple messages can be visually tedious, however, and the experience of communicating via such messages can have a transactional feel as the participants take turns in an asynchronous, back-and-forth exchange. Users might benefit from a richer, more interactive and entertaining messaging experience.